New Delhi, 13 December 2016<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Founder Director of Human Rights\nLaw Network, Dr. Colin Gonsalves asserted that the recent Supreme Court interim\njudgment in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA) case is a\n\u201chistoric\u201d one as it holds that the Army is amenable to criminal law\nprocedures. Stating that this judgment has struck at the impunity by noting\nthat law applies equally to all persons, Dr. Gonsalves observed that \u2018jawans\nand army officers can be prosecuted for human rights violations\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was speaking at the Human Rights\nDay function organized by the Centre for Human Rights Studies, O.P. Jindal\nGlobal University, in New Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Gonsalves lauded the Supreme\nCourt\u2019s interim judgment which was arrived after considering the findings of\nthe Justice Santosh Hegde Commission. It revealed that all six randomly\nselected instances out of the 1,528 total cases of alleged illegal\nextra-judicial executions were indeed fake encounters and the victims were not\nmilitants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referring to the earlier fact finding\ndone by Justice Suresh in Manipur many years ago, who went from village to\nvillage and interviewed victims, Dr. Gonsalves stated that Irom Sharmila, as a\nstudent, heard the testimonies of victims, which had a profound impact on her\nas a person. Two or three months later, when a jawan was killed by militants\nand in retaliation many persons were shot at a market place, Irom decided to\ncommence her historic hunger fast against the imposition of AFSPA in Manipur,\nhe said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Babloo\nLoitongbam from Human Rights Alert, Manipur, referred to the difficulties in\ndealing with justice and human rights issues in a conflict situation and the\ndilemmas faced by human rights defenders. Calling for transformative\nleadership, Mr. Babloo emphasised the need to find out that \u2018what is wrong?\u2019\ninstead of \u2018who is wrong?\u2019 and focus on what can be done together to address\nthis question in conflict situations. Focussing on who is the problem and\neliminating that person will not resolve the issue, he said. Mr. Babloo emphasised\nthat the struggle of human rights groups in Manipur must not be viewed in a\nbinary manner as \u2018for India or against India\u2019 but humanism should form the\nbasis for finding a solution. Organising victims and asserting their rights is\na part of this humanism, he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr. Babloo highlighted the\ncontribution of students in conflict resolution and appreciated the role played\nby student interns from the Jindal Global Law School whose research and\ndocumentation efforts have contributed to the data verification process\npursuant to the Supreme Court\u2019s interim judgment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Centre for Human Rights Studies, O.P. Jindal\nGlobal University, at the function, honoured Mr. Babloo Loitongbam who is a\nnoted human rights crusader from North-East India. Mr. Babloo through his\norganization, Human Rights Alert, has been at the forefront of promoting\njustice, rule of law and peace in Manipur for over two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In felicitating Mr. Babloo Loitongbam, Professor Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal\nGlobal University, remarked, \u201cit is not an award but a recognition of his\ncontribution for steadfastly adhering to the principles and values that shaped\nthe evolution of human rights and working under extreme adverse circumstances\nthat goes beyond any individual\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JGU also lauded and honoured the effort of Extra\u2013judicial Execution\nVictims\u2019 Families Association, Manipur (EEVFAM). EEVFAM is a unique\norganization, perhaps the only one in the world which constitutes mainly of\nyoung widows of men killed in alleged illegal extra-judicial executions. EEVFAM\nhas gained appreciation for their dedicated work in documenting and presenting\na strong case in front of the Supreme Court of India regarding the instances of\nalleged illegal extra-judicial killings in Manipur and highlighting the plight\nand impact of such killings on the entire Manipuri society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the function, JGU also launched the JGU Human Rights Clinic. Speaking\non the occasion, Prof. (Dr.) Y.S.R. Murthy, Executive Director, Centre for\nHuman Rights Studies, observed that this Clinic is an initiative at the micro level to reach out to the prisons, juvenile\nhomes and other institutions while exposing students to the practical realities\nof human rights issues on the ground. It is also an attempt to instil in\nstudents a social consciousness towards a deeper sense of human values that\nneeds to be promoted for a more peaceful society, he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi, 13 December 2016 The Founder Director of Human Rights Law Network, Dr. Colin Gonsalves asserted that the recent Supreme Court interim judgment in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA) case is a \u201chistoric\u201d one as it holds that the Army is amenable to criminal law procedures. Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsroom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1203,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1202\/revisions\/1203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}